Chance and Fate
by Artemis-E
Summary: The Empire is still in control, but the Rebel Alliance is not unheard of. However, there are those who make their own laws, living a dangerous life in an especially dangerous time.
1. The Dusty Streets of Mos Eisley

[_Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Star Wars universe. I only claim my numerous OCs_.]

___

"Well, this is a pleasant place, as always."  
  
A woman stood just outside of the landing where the _Talarius I_ now resided. She commented on this after seeing a passer-by, of some strange green-skinned race, get robbed blind by some human-looking thief. Of course, this had happened in broad daylight, and not even in a very large crowd.  
  
She shook her head. Tatooine certainly hadn't changed any since she'd last been here. She wondered why her passengers, of whom she'd had ten, would want to come here. Overall, though, it was probably best not to ask. They had gone on their way quickly enough.  
  
The woman of the recently arrived ship looked to be young for a captain, perhaps twenty-six years old or so, if that much. She was short of stature, had ash blonde hair that came to her chin, and green eyes that had a sort of calculating look in them. Her clothes were recognizable as those of someone from Corellia, though they were rather dusty already. Nearly everything that was on this planet for more than five minutes had a fine layer of light tan dust or sand on it.  
  
The _Talarius_ was one of those ships which were known as Blockade Runners, especially by those who used them for shady dealings, but they were also widely used by diplomats, and just about anyone who was in need of a good, fairly speedy ship, which was good at avoiding...well, just about anything larger than it. This particular ship, which was not new, but still in good condition, was smaller than the usual, and so configured to be run by a small crew. There were more weapons on it than on a standard model, but most of those were not usually visible - safety precautions, of course. This made it speedier than most, and even harder to latch onto.  
  
While those qualities would have made it an almost perfect pirate vessel, Solera would be the first to assure one, however, that she was running a completely legal business...varied, but on the legal side of things. The truth was a bit less defined, but she generally stayed out of trouble.  
  
"Jays, it's hot," she added, also a particularly obvious comment, wiping her forehead with one arm. Tatooine was a desert planet, after all. "Hannor, do me a favor and stay here," she said as she eyed a particularly suspicious dark-cloaked character which was watching them. The figure quickly moved on when it noticed her glare.  
  
"Fry anything that even thinks about touching my ship," Solera growled irritably. "Jikran, you come with me." The tall and lean man who she had called Hannor nodded and walked back into the ship. The other picked up his blaster pistol, which he had been inspecting closely, and walked over to meet her. Jikran had reddish-brown hair, but he was more recognizable by the odd jagged scar on his face. It ran just across his right eyebrow, and it gave him a more intimidating presence than the wiry man would have achieved otherwise.  
  
"While we're here, we might as well see what we can find in these junk piles they call shops. Every once in a while you'll find something useful," she commented to her companion as she waited for Hannor to reappear. Once he came out, now joined by a couple of others, she started towards the street. She would have gone alone, but it would not have been very wise to wander these streets without a companion of some sort. Solera was quite capable of defending herself again most odds, but she had the good sense to know that it would be silly to think that she wasn't ever in need of someone to watch her back. 

***

"I'll give you half that or no deal. I'm not that desperate for an entirely new sensor jammer, you know, I was just looking for parts to improve the old one. What, you think we're in some shady dealings and are in need of a particularly good, new model, eh?" Solera was haggling with a less-than-reputable parts dealer. His shop was no different from any of the others, seemingly hopelessly disorganized, crowded, and dirty, and the dealer himself was typical as well. He was a man in his forties, and he had a shrewd look. He ran a hand through his tousled brown hair and smirked.  
  
"Of course not. I don't go around askin' too many questions, if you catch my drift. I'll give you a thirty percent cut in the price, but no more. You can't find a better deal than that on a system like this one," the man informed her. He was smarter than he looked, this one. He was leaning against the counter, one hand stuck jauntily in his pocket.  
  
Solera rocked back on her heels, an impassive look on her face. She seemed to consider the offer duly, but a mildly curious look crossed her face after some thought. "Hm, so, who did you have report to you about my ship and what did they say? I like to hear comments about her."  
  
"What? Dunno what you're talking about miss, honestly," the dealer stated swiftly. You had to give him some credit. He didn't flinch a bit.  
  
Solera's eyes glinted oddly as they narrowed. "Lies are dangerous things, my _friend_. I'm sure you know that, being a long-standing businessman such as yourself," she said smoothly, waving one hand casually in a dismissive gesture. "If that's the case..."  
  
The trader made no sign that he'd been intimidated, but it did not take him long to reconsider. "Forty-five, then," he interjected quickly, "but that's my final offer."  
  
Solera smiled pleasantly and held out her hand promptly. "Lovely, I think that's fair enough."  
  
He shook her hand firmly; once again, the dealer's thoughts were unreadable. Solera had a good idea what was going through his mind, however. His darkly tanned skin had paled a little bit in the last few seconds.  
  
He turned and strode off to arrange getting the parts to the landing that Solera had indicated (conveniently not the one that she had used, but one near it), though she knew now that he was probably aware of the exact location of the ship. Really, did they think that she'd never been to Mos Eisley before? Cripes, it had been a while, but not _that_ long.  
  
"He was nervous," Jikran commented without looking up. He was standing nearby, idly inspecting a data pad that had been sitting on a pile of wooden crates in the corner.  
  
"Hm, yes. I'll bet he deals with pirates, bounty hunters, and petty thieves all the time. I wouldn't blame him for being habitually nervous," Solera said, the image of innocence. Her arms were crossed, and she stood without fidgeting, but she had a slightly impatient look to her.  
  
"What are we waiting for? He's supposed to bring us the parts," Jikran asked, finally setting the pad down and looking up at Solera.  
  
"Mm? Oh, nothing." Solera turned about and walked towards the door. She had to pause halfway, though, to sneeze loudly. A curse in some exotic language followed this promptly. She'd thought so. Bloody hell, why did this kind of thing always happen to her?  
  
"You alright, captain?" Jikran queried, concerned, as he caught up with her. Solera recovered quickly enough, though still muttering to herself.  
  
"I'm fine. I don't like the smell of this place, though," Solera muttered to Jikran as they exited the shop. A crowd of scurriers scattered out of their way as they stepped onto the busy street, staying to the side to avoid the worst of the traffic. It was the usual bit, Solera noted, no storm troopers in sight, though, which was unusual.  
  
"The rontos do smell a bit funny...," Jikran said slowly.  
  
"No, I meant...Oh, nevermind," Solera grumbled. She had forgotten that Jikran tended to take things far too literally. One really had to be careful about what they said around him at times. She sometimes wondered if it wasn't all just an act, but if it was, he was extraordinarily good at it.

Solera scowled as she idly snatched her blaster pistol from her hip, and well out of reach from a couple of passing Jawas. She had almost a sixth sense for trouble, especially when it involved the _Talarius_. To be in her line of work, though, one had to anticipate trouble before it happened. Those who weren't sharp just didn't last long.   
  
Something had struck her as foul from the moment she had set foot on this sandy pit of Hutt-controlled scum, but it was really starting to bug her now.  
  
"Let's just get back to the ship." 


	2. New and Old Friends

[_Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. Enough said? All the characters so far are my made-up ones. Any similarity to book/movie characters is completely coincidental_.]

Solera half-expected to hear blaster shots and shouted insults when she neared her ship, but it was strangely quiet. To be honest, she would have preferred to have some kind of idea what to expect. As it was, she stepped out of the back alleyway towards the landing silently, with the look of a cautious hunter. Jikran followed behind, hardly more than a shadow.  
  
There was no sign of Hannor standing outside the ship. Solera gave it another moment before she stepped boldly out into the open. That was the 'I'm-in-charge-here-so-don't-you-give-me-any-trouble' stance that she'd nearly perfected over the past few years. A slight gust of wind blew her short, unbound hair into her eyes, which would have dispelled the look if she had flinched. However, she stood at attention, not minding the fact that ash blonde hair was partially obstructing her vision. She had a casual grip on her blaster.  
  
"Well, don't tell me that they've gone off and had a party and left the ship all alone," she said aloud in an easy tone. Even as she spoke, she was giving the ship a critical inspection, looking for anything abnormal. She knew every ridge, scratch, and dent that could be found anywhere on the _Talarius_...probably better than she knew the back of her hand. Therefore she did catch the stray blaster scorch mark, just as something flew towards her head.  
  
She went down. Not, though, because she had been hit. She fell into a crouching position, and so was well out of the way when the dagger zipped by where her head had just been. Jikran had disappeared, but she knew that he had slipped back into the shadows of the alley behind them, quite before she'd been assaulted.  
  
Her reaction had come as instinct rather than sentient thought. Her first emotion was annoyance, because a weapon such as that really did require a much more artful use. The black-bladed knife landed in the sand with a soft thump.  
  
Solera didn't stay in a crouching position for long. She darted to the side, using a nearby parked speeder for cover. A couple of blaster shots hit the sand where she had been just moments earlier, making a slight hissing noise.  
  
Her assailant was dressed in drab brown, and at least had a humanoid build. It would have been crazy to assume that it was a human, as there were plenty of species that visited Tatooine that were reasonably human-looking.  
  
The captain rubbed the bridge of her nose as she leaned against the speeder, blaster drawn. Has she annoyed anyone especially rich and powerful lately? She'd ask Jikran as soon as the opportunity presented itself.  
  
She was about to turn about and give that uppity bounty hunter a couple of lessons in humility when she was struck by the oddest feeling. She felt...calm, and incredibly passive. Still, a part of her mind was screeching resistance to that, and so she resisted the sudden urge to put down her weapon. She shook her head, trying to clear it. What in the dregs of Carratos _was_ this?  
  
Whatever it was, it was annoying her with it's little mind games. She gripped the trigger of her blaster firmly, and prepared to turn about and shoot the thing point blank. It was obvious that it expected her to be completely enthralled by that feeling, probably assuming that the attacker had fled once the first attempt had failed. Solera was not so easily fooled. She couldn't have known at that point, though, that if she had made the mistake of facing her attacker head-on for any longer, she would have been entirely powerless to resist.  
  
Then a lot of things happened at once. Just as Solera whirled, and was about to put a blaster hole through the apparently-human's nose, there was a low snarl, and something vaguely grey in color flew in front of her. She jerked back, just barely avoiding killing both of the beings in front of her with one shot.  
  
She watched, surprised, as what appeared to be something feline in nature tore into the cloaked figure. The struggle seemed like it was going to be one-sided, but the mysterious brown-clad creature(Solera was quite sure now that he was _not_ human) put up more of a fight than she would have thought one of his size would be capable of. He managed to throw off the grey cat-like thing, and made a run for it.  
  
As soon as he was clear of the cat-creature, though, Solera made sure that he didn't get away. One shot sent him tumbling to the ground. He remained there, completely still. Jikran stepped out of the shadows, just in front of the fallen attacker. Had Solera not stopped the fleeing figure, her crewman would have.  
  
Solera stared thoughtfully at the feline which was picking itself up from the ground, looking indignant about getting thrown there in the first place. Jikran was eyeing the motionless body with a slight frown.  
  
"It's an Anzati," the lithe feline sniffed when he had regained a bipedal state. "You're lucky I came along when I did, or you would have been dead by now, just as the others are." He smoothed down the fur around his ears with one dexterous paw. Solera noticed that everything about him, his clothes, his manner of speech, and his attitude, were distinctive of someone who was far from home. She was willing to bet that this one, arrogant as he was, hadn't traveled very much.  
  
"Anzati," Solera's eyebrows went up a little. "Well, it makes sense now." She looked back at the dead alien. She noticed that he was a bit short...probably a younger one. His inexperience had led him to pick a fight with the wrong captain, that was for sure.  
  
The others? Wonderful. Hannor and the other two...She muttered a curse and sighed. Not only was it hard to find a reliable crew these days, but she had rather liked them.  
  
"The Anzati are a deadly species," Jikran spoke up as he stepped cautiously around the body. "It isn't often that someone survives, if they intend to kill. The way they kill is horrible."  
  
"Yeah, I've heard," Solera turned back to the Trianii. She had finally placed the name, though it had been ages since she'd last seen one of his species. They had a distinct dislike for such crude places as Tatooine, and were so arrogant that it wasn't much of a loss for the remote, scum-ridden places. "I was doing quite alright, you know. I'm sure you had the best of intentions, but I almost killed you _and_ him."  
  
"Of course," the Trianii looked completely unconvinced. He was young, and a bit foolhardy, though he would have never admitted it. Solera noted that she had been much the same, at one point.  
  
"It would be in your best interests if you didn't meddle in anyone's affairs but your own, kid," Solera said as she walked towards her ship. "Take it from me."  
  
The young feline glared. She was treating him like an inferior? He'd rescued her, and that was all the gratitude he got? And..._kid_? She had quite a lot of nerve. He snorted lightly in her direction, and stepped over to look at the Anzati.

"Oy, what's going on here?"  
  
Solera looked up, pausing from where she had been walking up the ramp to the ship, following a trail of oddly dark-colored blood. More visitors? She was proving to be quite the popular one today.  
  
Standing just below was a human...no, while he looked human enough, his skin was of an oddly pink hue, which contrasted sharply with his dark hair and eyes. He was handsome enough, even besides all that. Solera recognized him as a Zeltron...they weren't an odd species to find on any planet which had sufficient spaceship traffic. This one was dressed in typical Tatooine gear, which he had, no doubt, come by recently.  
  
In fact, Solera recognized this particular individual.   
  
"Oh, Bouncer...," Jikran moved on by her to crouch at the edge of an almost motionless form. Now that he was close enough, he could hear rattling breath coming from the massiff. It was a large creature, which had a multitude of spikes along his back. His large dark eyes focused on Jikran, and he attempted to wag his spiny tail.  
  
"Poor bugger. I'm sure he didn't give our friend an easy time of it," Solera sighed, ignoring the Zeltron momentarily as she walked up to join Jikran. She'd owned the massiff since it had been just a baby. He hadn't come from Tatooine, however, but from another planet, where they were considered to be fashionable pets for the wealthy. He was as good a guard dog...thing as could be asked for. He didn't trouble approved passengers, but when threatened or when trespassers loomed, he showed that he still knew quite well how to use those sharp teeth and claws of his.  
  
"Do you think he's going to die?" Jikran asked, a bit sadly. They'd almost certainly lost the rest of their crew...it would be hard to lose Bouncer, too.  
  
"I can help you with that," the Zeltron spoke up, apparently not disturbed by the fact that he had been mainly ignored up until this point. "I'm quite skilled in the medical field."  
  
Solera looked down at him with a blank expression. "I've had quite a bit of help today, already, but seeing as I don't know all that much about medicine...What do you want in return for this 'help', Loaz?" She asked blandly.  
  
The Zeltron's delicate eyebrows arched a bit. "I was hoping for a more pleasant greeting from an old friend, but I understand that this is not the best of times. Hm, I wonder, does everything have a price tag to you, Solera?"  
  
"No, but that's not the point. Name your terms," she demanded bluntly.  
  
"Alright, you still have your nice ship, I see. I need someone to get me off of this planet. Would that be too much to ask?"  
  
Solera looked thoughtful for a second. "I can do that," she replied with a light smile. "You've got a deal."  
  
"Easy, Bouncer. You're going to be just fine," Jikran assured the massiff as the Zeltron approached. Bouncer seemed to accept that this was not a interloper, and relaxed.  
  
"Been doing well since I saw you last?" Loaz asked off-handedly as he wasted no time in getting to work. He apparently carried his supplies with him, in the pack that he was carrying. Solera met him before, on Coruscant of all places, but it had been a while. Still, she didn't trust him much more than a stranger. She believed him when he said he could help, though, and that was good enough for the moment.  
  
"Just the usual," Solera commented as she looked down at the Trianii, shaking her head a little.


End file.
